Vietnam Flashback

Does Agent Orange cause diabetes?

Michael Fumento from the July 2000 issue

(Page 2 of 2)

Veterans Affairs now pays compensation to Vietnam veterans who develop any of several "Agent Orange-related diseases." It's a virtual given that the current clamor from veterans groups and politicians will convince the VA to add diabetes to that list. "Based on the evidence we have seen, the VA should make a decision that diabetes is presumed to be service-connected based on Agent Orange exposure," says John Sommer, executive director of the Washington office of the American Legion.

Sommer may want to think twice about using the report. Beyond diabetes rates, the Air Force study looked at the other "Agent Orange-associated diseases," including nine different cancers, for which groups like the American Legion had lobbied to get compensation. What did it find? "Ranch Hand enlisted ground crew, the occupation with the highest dioxin levels and, presumably, the highest herbicide exposure, exhibited a decreased prevalence" of cancer. The Ranch Hands got cancer about 21 percent less often than the comparison group of Vietnam vets who sprayed no herbicide at all.

Like the 47 percent increase in diabetes, that decrease is statistically insignificant. But if you want to follow the lead of those media types and politicians who tossed statistical significance to the four winds in the case of diabetes, you can conclude that Agent Orange and dioxin exposure reduce cancer risks.

That said, don't expect to find dioxin capsules in the vitamin store next to shark cartilage. Do expect this latest report to become part of the lore surrounding Agent Orange. And while some vets will receive compensation they don't deserve, many more who bravely served in Vietnam will simply live out their lives in fear that they are at elevated risk for diabetes or cancer. That's not the kindest way to thank them for their service.

Comments

|9.22.10 @ 11:40PM|#

Is the article Spin Control to destroy the credibility of veterans by a man who failes to inform his publishers that he had worked under a "grant from Monsanto chemical", one of the suppliers to the U.S. military that contaminated the Vietnamese Country side with herbicides that contained excessive amount of TCDD. Did this company violate the Federal procurement regulations in an effort to decive Military Inspectors ?

A few years ago, Dr. Jenkins, an EPA scientist was fired from the EPA. She brought a case for prosecution to the Chief of the Enforcement Division EPA against Monsanto. The Chief was then fire and he was replaced by a Monsanto lawyer appointed by Bill Clinton's Administration. Jenkins went to court and the EPA hired her back.

The current take on the issue today is if the Vietnam veterans continue to file claims with the VA the company stocks might become devalued.

During the Vietnam war consultants to the chemical companies that produced the herbicides recommended that the chemicals be cooked using a better methode to lower contamination levels. This idea was rejected by the companies who want to make max profits and ship on demand. They were not intrested in reducing heat or slowing the production process -- they did not seem to care about the safety of U.S. Military personnel. They did receive immunity from the government against civil litigation under a doctrine made it next to impossible for veterans bring litigation.

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